In 1936,
Belfast Corporation's tramway committee recommended that an experimental trolleybus service be inaugurated after inspecting the
Birmingham,
Bournemouth,
London,
Nottingham,
Portsmouth and
Wolverhampton systems. Seven pairs of chassis from
AEC,
Crossley,
Daimler,
Guy,
Karrier,
Leyland and
Sunbeam were acquired. These were fitted with six types of electric motor with coachwork by five different builders, and were supplied on the proviso that should the trial be a success, Belfast Corporation would purchase them, and should it fail they would be returned. On 28 March 1938, operations commenced out of Falls Park depot along
Falls Road. This was chosen as being a virtually stand-alone route. Judged a success, Belfast Corporation decided to replace the entire
tramway network. An order was placed with AEC for 114 trolleybuses; however, wartime constraints resulted in only 88 being delivered. On 13 February 1941 operations began in East Belfast when the
Cregagh route commenced from the new Haymarket depot. The network gradually expanded, with the last of the tram network closing in 1954. Further sections were added until 1959 to a total of 37.5 miles. In order to speed up the conversion, eleven second-hand trolleybuses were purchased from
Wolverhampton in 1952. ==Fleet==